Cuteness

Doesn't get much better than a beautiful spring day with your kids...

Ella

Today is Ella's 5th birthday.  We have a running joke around here that we aren't going to let the kids get any older because we want to be able to hug and squeeze them forever.  The kids always tease back that they will always give us hugs and kisses.

Last night, I was talking with Ella and I said, "when you wake up tomorrow, you'll be five!"  She got very sad looking and teary-eyed and said "well, I want to be 4 for part of tomorrow and 5 for the other part."  I said sure, fine, etc.  She said I want to be 4 and 5 for the rest of the days too and her lower lip started trembling.  I was dumbfounded.  What could be upsetting her so much?  I kept asking what's wrong...honey, tell me what's wrong.  She was starting to sob.  I begged her to please tell me why she was crying.  She said, "I don't want to be 5.  I want to stay little for you!!"  I grabbed her up and hugged her tight.  It was hard to hide my own tears at such a sweet and profound thought for a 5-year old.  I told her I couldn't wait for her to be 5 and that I couldn't wait to see all the things she would do as a 5-year old and that no matter how big she got, I was always gonna get my hugs and kisses one way or another.  She started to laugh then and seemed to feel better. 

It's amazing the thoughts that go through our children's heads.  You should never underestimate their intelligence and the depths of their thoughts and feelings.

Happy Birthday Ella...

go and be 5 with all the happiness, curiousity, and excitement it brings!

2009 Mission Accomplished!

So I did it! I sat and listened to the waves crash in at Holden Beach. I heard the perfect pitch of Jason Mraz in concert, not once, but twice! Thanks to the alignments of the spirits and fate for that amazing stroke of luck. Also got to shake it to some G. Love and he told ME- I had "sauce." So there! An added bonus to those shows was being introduced to the awesomely entertaining and talented Bushwalla. If you haven't checked him out, you definitely need to. Refreshing and funky fun is how I would describe him and his music. (That's me in the upper left picture in the yellow with Bushwalla. The other girl is my good friend, Angel.)





And finally, I made it to see and hear the sensory experience that is U2! I don't even know where to begin to show my gratitude that my hearing and balance allowed me to make it this far. It almost didn't. On the drive to the show, my good ear was acting up as well. Lots of pain, dizziness, and nausea. I did not feel well at all and just kept saying to myself, "don't worry, your adrenaline will kick in and you'll be fine." During the opening act for U2, vertigo (no pun intended, U2 fans) reared its head momentarily. I imagined myself being carried out of the stadium covered in puke, and crying out, "no, damn it! not now!!!!!" However, thanks to the wonders of medication, I was able to beat the vertigo into submission. At several points during the show, the tears flowed from sheer happiness and gratitude. No one saw them but they rolled freely during "MLK" and "With or Without You" because I got to hear them live and god, "MLK" is such a beautiful little lullaby. (By the way, go ahead and play that one at my Memorial, would ya?) I could hear the crowd of 50,000 singing along to all the songs. I've never heard so many people singing together at the same time. To most people, it sounds so trivial that this is such a big deal to me but if you ever meet someone with my condition, they will tell you how huge this is.

The next day I had a routine appointment with my Ear-Nose-Throat Doctor. I now have a tube in my good ear as well and hope that it will help me to equalize the pressure problems I've been having due to colds, weather, altitude changes, etc. As he explained it...'all your balance information is coming from that one ear. If anything alters that, you're going to be unsteady, dizzy, and in general miserable.' This tube will do nothing to halt the progression of the Meniere's in my bad ear, but hopefully we can remove anything that may aggravate the symptoms. My ENT doc is so passionate about what he does. He's got my back no matter what comes, he's ready to fight for me no matter what my employers or my health insurance company may throw at me. For that, I am thankful beyond words.
I claimed 2009 as my year and I achieved all the goals on my "bucket list" of things to do before my hearing goes kaput in my left ear. Here's to hoping for a cure.
I've also come away from all this feeling rejuvenated. We all have so much to give-our time, our money, our knowledge, our sympathy, our laughter. Pick one, any one of them, and share it. It will make your life all the better.
So mission accomplished! Now to look towards 2010...

Wishing everyone love, peace, and laughter!!!